Member Avatar for ike185

Hi all,

Had asked for assistance concerning the problem am having on my pc but it seemed only one person had a similar problem.
My hard disk space is just shrinking. I looked for the problem and found that in C:\WINDOWS\Temp something was just creating the following files: Acr4A, Acr4C, Acr52 and the number goes on and on. In a span of an hour it eats up to 1.5GB on my hard drive. So each time I have to manually delete these files as not only it eats up my hard disk space, it also slows my system down considerably.
I know little about the Registry but feel that's where the problem is from. Am trying to find out what creates these unnecessary files so I can get rid of it but fail to do so.
I have tried several anti-viruses but they all come out saying my system is ok.
Does anyone know what the problem is and how I can fix it?

Any help you offer will be greatly appreciated.

Ike.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 142 Views
  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by DMR

Dani AI

Generated

Those acr*.tmp files in C:\WINDOWS\Temp are Adobe Acrobat/Reader temporary files. As pointed out and as later found on Adobe’s site, they’re normally safe to remove—but they pile up when an Acrobat component repeatedly creates temp files or fails to clean them up (for example after a crash or when a PDF-processing component is invoked frequently).

To find the exact process creating them, monitor file activity with Sysinternals Process Monitor and filter for the Temp folder and filenames beginning with "acr". Procmon will show the process name and command line. If you only need to know which process holds a particular file, use Process Explorer’s “Find Handle or DLL” feature.

A safe immediate procedure:

  • Close Acrobat/Reader (and browser windows that use its plugin).
  • If needed, stop Acrobat processes first (AcroRd32, Acrobat) and then delete old acr*.tmp files from C:\Windows\Temp while running an elevated prompt.
  • To automate removal of older files, run the following PowerShell as Administrator:
Stop-Process -Name AcroRd32, Acrobat -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

$cutoff = (Get-Date).AddDays(-1)
Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:windir\Temp\acr*.tmp" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
  Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -lt $cutoff } |
  Remove-Item -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Longer-term fixes: update or reinstall Acrobat/Reader (old installs are more prone to leftovers), check for other apps or Office add-ins that call Acrobat components, and schedule the cleanup script if automatic deletion is acceptable. If files reappear instantly or Procmon shows a non-Acrobat process creating them, investigate that process (startup items, scheduled tasks, or third-party PDF tools) and consider contacting its vendor. For monitoring tools, see Process Monitor and Process Explorer at the Sysinternals site.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for DMR

The acrxxx.tmp files are temp files created by Adobe Acrobat. The fact that they accumulate is a known problem; if the number of these files stored on your computer exceeds 65,536, your computer may actually crash when you try to work with PDF documents.

I don't know if there is a way to stop them from being created, but they can definitely be safely deleted. I use a helpful little tool written by called , which quickly and automatically deletes old files like temp files, cookies, browser cache files, etc.

Member Avatar for ike185

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. will try your suggestion. I hope it solves the problem but thanks again for the response. will let u know how it goes.

Ike

Member Avatar for ike185

Hey,

I went to the acrobat website and found a way to stop these files from being created. Visist this website: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/330414.html

Thanks a lot. would not have found the solution without your help. Will also tell my friend who is having a similar problem.

cheers!

Ike.

Member Avatar for DMR

Hey,

I went to the acrobat website and found a way to stop these files from being created. Visist this website: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/330414.html

Great- thanks for posting that link! I only did a quick look through Adobe's site, and I didn't see that article.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.